The largest fertilizer cooperative of the country IFFCO had to finally move court to stop a mover and packer company from misusing its name. Mr R P Singh, IFFCO Director who takes care of legal issues, among other things, heaved a sigh of relief on Wednesday when the court appointed a Commissioner and asked police to look into the matter.
IFFCO also claimed a damage of Rs.1 crore and sought the injunction against Defendants from further infringement of IFFCO’s trademark and copyright.
Arguing its case IFFCO stated that an organization called IFFCO Home Packers & Movers having its head office at Plot No 439, Najafgarh Road, Near Railway Crossing, Bijwasan, Delhi was using the trademark, trade name, IFFCO fraudulently, unlawfully and without any authority from the IFFCO. The URL website of the Defendant, www.iffcohome.com, is also deceptively similar to that of the IFFCO. This was causing confusion and deception in the minds of public at large and persons of trade in particular, leading them to believe that the IFFCO Home Packers & Movers is related to IFFCO.
The High Court allowed the plea of IFFCO and passed an interim order restraining the IFFCO Home Packers & Movers from using directly or indirectly, the trademark trade name ÏFFCO” and copyright in the logo ÏFFCO, either singularly or in conjunction with any prefix or suffix or in any other manner including its domain name, its logo or any trade mark, trade name, service mark, which is deceptively confusingly similar or identical to the IFFCO’s Trade Mark.
We came to know about them about an year ago and wrote to them to stop using our name; they promised to do so but did nothing and carried on as usual. Later they stopped picking our phone, leaving us no alternative to going to court, Singh said.
Famed brands have risk of being misused at the hands of unscrupulous elements and this is not the first time that we have faced such problems. There was once a pump company based in Gujarat and selling its products as IFFCO Pumps, recalled Singh. We had to sue him for this illegal activity, he added.
Earlier, a Dubai based company misused IFFCO brand name. This is not new and all top-notch brands are battling against this, said a corporate honcho.